


just the opposite

by helsinkibaby



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Het, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-29 06:43:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16258787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Ellie finds a way to stop Nick talking.





	just the opposite

**Author's Note:**

> For fictober day 10 “you think this troubles me?” (Slightly deviated in the speech!)

“We need to talk.”

Nick knows that, in the history of ever, no good has ever come after those two words. Especially not when they’re uttered in the tone of voice that Ellie’s just used, flat and determined, just a hint of exasperation burning under the surface. 

But it’s the middle of the work day, they’re heading back to the car following a second visit to the crime scene, still in NCIS windbreakers and baseball caps so he hopes it’s something to do with the case. Besides, he’s about to get into a car and drive for a half hour back to headquarters with her so it’s not like he can escape. Even if he tried to ignore her, she’d probably just start singing. He’d thought “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain” was bad until she’d embraced her Oklahoma roots with the latest Carrie Underwood album. 

He holds back a shudder and mentally crosses his fingers, tries to play it off. “I know, right? There’s something about the scene that bothers me too.” 

Ellie’s huff could double as a storm force wind. Her glare could rival Gibbs. “Not about the case.” She stops in her tracks and turns to face him, crossing her arms over her chest. “About the job. And how you’re treating me.” 

She’s lost him. Completely. “How I’m treating you?”

Another exasperated huff. “Nick, two weeks ago, you ended up with shrapnel in your back because you were shielding me from gunfire.” Like he needed to be reminded of it. Flesh wound or no, it had stung like a son of a bitch every time he moved for the rest of the week. “I thought it was a once off, but every time I turn around, you’re there, keeping an eye on me, just waiting to put yourself between me and danger.” 

He opens his mouth to protest but closes it again when he considers the events of the last couple of weeks. 

Yeah, he guesses he has been doing that a little. 

Ellie sucks in a deep breath, lets it out slowly. “Look, I get it, ok?” He knows that voice. It’s her conciliatory voice, the one she uses when she wants people to think that everything’s all right, even if it’s not. She’d used it after Qasim’s death more times than he cares to remember. “I know after losing Reeves-” She stumbles a little over the name. “- you don’t want to lose another team-mate. But I can’t do my job effectively-”

“Wait a second.” He cuts across her, he can’t help himself. And even as her jaw drops, he knows he’s about to get himself into a whole world of trouble but he can’t stop the words from falling from his lips. “Losing a team-mate? You think this is what troubles me?” He lifts a hand to his face, rubs at his forehead and swipes his cap from his head, crumpling it in his fist. “Ellie, I’m not worried about losing a team-mate.” Her eyes narrow and he can see the shock flare in them as she realises what he’s going to say seconds before he says it. “I’m worried about losing you.” 

Once out, the words hang in the air between them. Ellie’s mouth opens but no sound comes out. 

What the hell, Nick thinks. 

“If something happened to you,” he tells her, “if I was there and I couldn’t stop it... if you were hurt, or worse, and there was nothing I could do but stand there and watch it happen...” The mere thought of it makes his stomach clench and his head reel. “I couldn’t live with myself, Ellie. It would kill-”

He doesn’t plan to stop there. It’s just that he has to, because it’s hard to talk when his arms are full of Ellie and her lips are pressed to his like they’re meant to be there. The peak of her cap feels awkward against the side of his face as his falls somewhere to the ground, his hands being taken up with sliding down her windbreaker, one slipping underneath to press against her hip, pull her closer towards him as he opens his mouth to hers. She makes a little noise that he instantly wants to hear again and again and it’s a shock to his system when she pulls back. 

He’s speechless, breathing hard, slightly dumbfounded. 

She’s a study in contrast, her cheeks flushed pink, her eyes sparkling, a tiny smile playing around her lips. “Wow,” she quips. “So that’s what it takes to stop you talking.”

He laughs, he can’t help it. His fingers trace small patterns underneath the windbreaker. “You should have tried it a long time ago.” 

“Does that mean I can try it again?” she asks. “Maybe over dinner?”

Nick’s been working hard on his impulse control so he doesn’t point out that he’d rather do it over breakfast. Instead, he smiles, slides his fingers from her hip to her hand, squeezing gently. “I thought you’d never ask,” he says.

The tiny smile widens to a grin. Just for a second though, then she dips her head and bites her lip, looks up at him through her lashes, like she’s suddenly shy or embarrassed or something. 

He finds it ridiculously cute. 

Oh, he’d known he was right earlier - he’s in a whole world of trouble right now. Just not the kind he was anticipating. 

Doesn’t mean he’s unhappy about it. 

In fact, just the opposite.


End file.
